Haunted
by PeoniesandPoppies
Summary: "If you wish to escape this ridiculous biological paradox that is reality, one must choose between insanity or death." -Unknown


**Haunted**

Here it is.

The super angsty one shot I have been working on.

Prepare to be in pain.

* * *

"Fuck. Why'd it have to be you?!" Gray shouted to the cosmos as he breathed in the smoke from the burning city.

In front of him, standing tall and proud like a fearsome warrior, was none other than his best friend and team mate, Natsu Dragneel.

At least, that is who he used to be.

This was no longer the dorky fire breather he used to rough house with.

This being before him held resemblance to his old friend but it was apparent that things had gone from bad to worse.

Etherious Natsu Dragneel, a demon from the book of Zeref, a demon that Gray had promised to kill.

The Figure that was hidden partially by fire and smoke, stood with it's hands on it's hips cockily.

It laughed.

"So long I have been locked away and this is what I am greeted with? Pathetic." It spat.

* * *

Their team mates were scattered about, fighting their own battles.

Lucy had come to help Natsu against the wishes of first master Mavis.

Natsu's power from Igneel had failed and Natsu didn't know if he could win this one.

Zeref had looked down on Natsu's defeated form and sadly lamented.

"You are still not strong enough, I see. I really thought that surely this time you would live up to my expectations, Natsu."

Lucy had run to Natsu, not caring that the main enemy was standing just feet from them both.

She grabbed him and shook him hard.

"We have to fight! We can't give up! Come on!"

She tried to pull him to his feet, but he waved her off.

"That was it. Igneel trusted me with this power. It was all I had left of my Dad! I wasn't strong enough!" He shouted.

Zeref watched the interaction carefully, the wheels in his desperate mind turning.

"What happened to protecting the future?! We are Fairy Tail! Get up and fight!"

She grabbed his hand and squeezed, looking into his dark olive eyes pleadingly.

Zeref saw a spark ignite in his brother when his eyes met the girl's.

Zeref had promised Layla that no harm would come to her daughter, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

How unfortunate that Layla's daughter had come to bewitch his cursed little brother.

Without warning, Zeref enveloped Lucy in a dark cloud and she disappeared into the black fog, reappearing beside the dark wizard.

Natsu stood to his feet and lunged at the dark haired boy.

"Don't you touch her!"

His fist ignited in flames and would have crashed into his face, but Zeref had other plans.

The wicked Spriggan faded with Lucy in a dark cloud and emerged a bit of a ways behind the dragon slayer.

Zeref made Lucy kneel before him.

Her angry tears spilled down her cheeks.

"He won't let you live." She hissed lowly.

He smiled and watched as Natsu lunged for him at top speed surrounded by flames.

"That's what I'm counting on."

Lucy's eyes widened and she screamed as Zeref released a a black shock wave.

In an instant, Lucy slumped to the ground, lifeless.

Natsu's flames sizzled out and he fell to his knees.

He crawled to her body on the ground and held her face in his hands.

He listened for a heart beat but couldn't pick one up.

A loud, shout ripped from his lungs like a true dragon roar.

His body engulfed in flames once more.

He couldn't focus on anything.

His thoughts were jumbled and his emotions were out of control.

His eyes met Zeref's and a strange feeling flooded his body.

Zeref held out his hand and a book appeared in a cloud of darkness.

Zeref looked down at the book and smiled.

"Are you ready, little brother?"

As soon as the words hit Natsu's ears, he doubled over in pain.

It felt like he was being torn apart from the inside by glass shards.

His body contorted painfully and the sounds coming from him were almost inhuman.

The pain began to slowly dissipate until he felt nothing at all and was overcome by the darkness.

* * *

"Why did it have to be you? OF ALL PEOPLE, WHY YOU?!" Gray shouted at the demon.

"You humans sure do like to whine, don't you?" It smirked.

Gray knew that this wasn't Natsu, but he couldn't be expected to... Kill him, could he?

He silently asked his father what to do, even though he already knew what had to be done.

There was no other way and Gray was the only one who could do this.

Sure, his guild mates had killed their fair share of demon's during their battle with Tartaros, but E.N.D. was _the_ demon.

Gray had no choice.

"I'm sorry, Natsu." Gray summoned his dark marks and prepared to do what he had promised.

"Apologizing before you make an attempt on my life? Amusing." The fire demon looked bored.

He clearly didn't see Gray as a threat.

Why would he?

The guy was a mess.

Before Gray could make the first move, Juvia's voice rang out through the dense smoke and dancing embers.

"Gray Sama! Lucy San is alive! She is breathing!" She shouted.

* * *

Zeref knew his brother needed a nudge and Layla's daughter was the perfect opportunity.

He had no intentions of killing the girl.

Not at all.

How could he face her in the afterlife if he did?

Instead, he faked it.

Lucy did indeed die, but not permanently.

To be more specific, she was in between life and death.

Not quite dead, but not quite alive, either.

' _Oh, Natsu. Didn't anyone tell you that love is dangerous_?'

* * *

Lucy inhaled a sharp breath and shot up into a sitting position from Juvia's lap.

"Lucy!" Happy's face was covered in tears and snot.

He wrapped his little blue arms around her and shoved his face in her chest.

Juvia gasped and grabbed her shoulders.

Her face, too, was stained with tears.

"Lucy San! Juvia was so worried!"

The former rain woman flung her arms around Lucy and the Exceed, squishing them both into her ample bosom.

"Where's Natsu? Is he okay?"

She looked around but couldn't see more than 5 feet in front of her through the dark night, clouds of smoke and roaring flames.

From the look of things, she felt that the answer wasn't one she wanted to hear.

Happy cried harder and squeezed her tightly.

Lucy's eyes watered and she looked to Juvia, silently begging her for good news.

Juvia's eyes wandered ahead and her lip quivered.

Lucy followed her gaze and in the distance Lucy could make out two figures standing far apart.

"Is that Natsu?" Lucy asked, voice full of hope.

Juvia didn't answer and Happy's sobs increased at the mention of the former dragon slayer's name.

"Who is with him? Is that Zeref?"

Juvia hiccuped and shook her head, flinging tears in all directions.

"Zeref was defeated." She whispered.

Lucy turned to look at Juvia.

"Then who is that with Natsu?"

Juvia's eyes stayed on the two figures.

Lucy waited for a response.

Juvia screamed when she witnessed one of the figures attack the other.

She couldn't tell who was who.

Lucy snapped her head back around to see what had made her friend react in such a terrifying way.

She saw the two figures landing blow after blow on each other.

"Who is with Natsu?!" Lucy demanded.

Juvia sniffled and grabbed Lucy's hand.

"Gray Sama promised father..." She managed to choke out between sobs.

Lucy stared at the water mage in shock.

"Promised him what?" Happy pulled his face from Lucy's chest and looked up at her through tear blurred vision.

"Natsu is gone." He cried.

Lucy shook her head.

"No. No, he isn't. See! He's right there!" She pointed to the fight.

Juvia shook her head. " Gray Sama promised father he would kill the demon."

Her cries grew louder.

"Demon?" Lucy looked at the veiled fight in horror.

"Etherious Natsu Dragneel. E.N.D!" Juvia held her face in her hands.

Lucy stiffened and memories flashed through her mind.

She couldn't believe she hadn't seen it sooner.

It was just all too easy for her and the rest of their friends to miss the signs.

Nobody would have ever suspected.

Not their nakama.

Lucy grabbed Juvia.

"Make Gray stop!" She shouted.

Juvia shook her head.

"Juvia cannot! Gray Sama promised!"

Lucy stood from the ground and began walking towards the battle.

Juvia and Happy ran after her.

"If you won't, then I will."

Juvia used her water magic and turned herself into a giant wave, crashing down in front of Lucy before solidifying.

"No! Lucy San, you must not interfere!"

"I can't just watch them kill each other! I can't lose him again!" Lucy shouted at the water mage.

Happy flew beside Lucy and pointed to the two men fighting.

"That isn't Natsu." Lucy could hear how broken Happy sounded. It made her heart twist and ache.

"Juvia doesn't want this either, but this isn't our fight." She tried to reason with the distraught blonde.

"What happened to fighting for love, huh, Juvia? 'Cause it seems like you have given up." Lucy said angrily.

Juvia shook her head and began to protest.

"Juvia will always fight for love." She stated confidently through her tears.

Lucy glared at the woman.

"Then why are you letting the man you love fight a friend you love?"

Juvia stomped her foot childishly.

"It's not Juvia's place to interfere. Gray Sama has to do this. Natsu San is gone!" She shouted.

Lucy slapped Juvia hard across the face.

Juvia held her cheek and looked to the ground.

Happy touched Lucy's shoulder.

"Lucy..."

She shook him off and began walking closer to the fight.

She reached for her leather pouch and pulled out a single golden key.

Juvia ran after her friend and Happy flew close behind.

Lucy was almost in the center between the two.

The two men hardly noticed her between attacks.

"Open, gate of the Li-"

"LUCY! LOOK OUT!" Happy shouted, trying his best to fly to her in time.

Juvia was closest and Lunged forward, shoving Lucy out of the way of Gray's attack.

All of it had happened so quickly, Neither Gray or the demon noticed until the two girls were down.

Lucy was thrown a few feet away by Juvia's powerful shove.

She pulled herself up and looked over to the blunette on the ground.

Lucy's screams filled the demolished city, a sound that Fairy Tail would never forget as long as they lived.

On the ground, between the two now completely still men, was Juvia's body.

Her chest heaved up and down slowly.

There was so much blood.

Laughter broke through the silence.

It made Lucy's skin crawl and blood boil when she saw who it had come from.

"Oh, man! Now that's a show!"

Happy was on the ground now, a few feet from Juvia.

He was staring at what once was his best and closest friend.

"How could someone with our Natsu's face and voice be so evil!?" The blue cat shouted at the demon.

Lucy stood to her feet and stared in disbelief at the man before her.

No.

Not man.

Demon.

"Juvia was right. You were right. Natsu is gone." Lucy's tears fell heavily and soaked her ash covered face.

She looked down at Juvia, who was now being cradled by Gray.

"I'm so sorry..." Lucy whispered to them.

"I wasn't fast enough..." Happy wailed.

The pink haired demon crossed his arms and shook his head as he laughed.

"Humans are too sentimental. Death is a gift, you know." He smiled.

Lucy felt like the sky was falling.

It was.

Wasn't it?

Lucy sneered at the fire demon and grabbed her key from the ground.

"Open, Gate of the Lion, Leo!" She roared with ferocity.

Loke appeared before her and stared sadly at their former friend.

"So, it has come to this, Natsu?" Loke asked sadly.

Lucy used the key on herself.

"Stardress, Leo form!" Her torn and frayed clothes transformed into her Leo dress.

Leo was the most powerful spirit she currently had.

Aquarius would have been preferable for a battle with someone like him, but that would never be possible again.

The demon licked his lips and smiled.

"Alright, I'll play."

* * *

Gray held Juvia in his arms.

Her breathing was labored and the blood was gushing from her wounds.

"Gray Sama... Don't blame yourself... Please?" She panted.

He brushed her hair from her face.

"You don't get to die, Juvia. You live for the ones you love, right? Right?!" He lay her down and tried to freeze her wounds.

She coughed and blood spilled from her lips.

"Juvia doesn't think she has a say this time, Gray Sama..."

Her wounds were too severe. Even sealing them up, her blood loss was still to great and the hits were vital.

His ice had gone straight through her in many places.

She wasn't going to make it and he knew.

"I never even got to tell you..." He buried his face in her bleeding chest and sobbed.

She weakly brought her hand to his head and stroked his messy, dark spikes.

"Juvia knows... It's okay... Don't cry, Gray Sama."

He pulled his face from her chest and grabbed her hands.

"I need you to hear it. Just this once." He brought her hand to his face and held it against his wet cheek.

Her eyes were glassy and a stray tear fell from her cheek.

"Juvia... I love you. I'm so sorry. So, so sorry..." He buried his face in her chest again and his body shook violently against hers as he cried.

"Juvia will always love Gray Sama. Juvia doesn't want Gray Sama to be sad. She only wishes for Gray Sama's happiness. Even if it is with love rival."

Gray grabbed her face with his hands.

"Don't you get it Juvia? It's you. And now you are leaving me!" He shouted angrily.

She brushed away a tear from his face.

"Juvia will always be with Gray Sama."

He pulled her up and wrapped his arms tightly around her.

She wheezed and more blood poured out.

"Shit. Juvia... I'm sorry..."

She tilted her head back to look at his face.

"There is nothing to be sorry for. Juvia is happy. Protect Lucy San, Gray Sama. Help her." She whispered.

Her vision was fading and it was getting harder to breathe.

Her eyes began to flutter shut.

"No, no, no, no, NO. JUVIA. I'm not ready." he begged as he held her face and tapped her cheek with his palm, trying to keep her awake.

A smile played at the corners of her lips.

"No one ever is, Gray Sama." Her breathing was ragged and uneven.

Knowing that he didn't have much time left with her, he had something he had to do.

He brought her face to his and melded his lips against hers.

The taste of her blood was on his tongue, but he didn't care.

This was his last chance.

When he pulled away Juvia was smiling sweetly at him.

His heart shattered knowing that he would never see that smile again.

"Thank you, Gray Sama. You gave Juvia the best life she could have hoped for. Juvia will always be grateful."

He shook his head and held her against him, his tears soaking her cerulean hair.

"Who will stop my darkness now?" He whispered in her ear.

Juvia's breathing was becoming more erratic and gray knew this was the end of the line.

"Be strong, Gray Sama. Juvia will always... be with you."

Her last words were soft whispers that faded into the silence.

Gray stared down at her lifeless body in his arms.

It began to rain.

He rocked slowly and squeezed his eyes shut.

' _My mom, old man, Master Ur, Ultear... And now ... Juvia, too?_ '

He lay her on the ground and cursed himself.

' _If only I had paid attention. I could have prevented this. I was so obsessed with killing that damned demon..._ '

He lifted his heated gaze up to the battle before him.

Lucy and Loke were landing hit after hit on Natsu.

Kicks, punches, full body hits all powered by Loke's Regulus.

The demon wasn't even using his full power.

He was toying with them.

Had he been truly fighting, Lucy would be dead.

Gray growled and stood to his feet.

"E.N.D! YOUR TIME HERE IS OVER! THIS ENDS NOW!"

Gray's dark marks spread across his body at an alarming rate as he ran at Natsu.

Lucy knew that this wasn't Natsu, but she thought that there must be a way to seal E.N.D away again.

"Gray, No! We can seal the demon away again!" She shouted.

Happy flew to Lucy and pulled her out of the way.

"Are you sure Lucy?" He asked with uncertainty as they crashed to the ground a few feet away.

"It was done once before!" She cried

She scrambled to her feet and tried to run back to the fight.

Loke stopped her.

"Lucy, I can't allow you to go back to the fight. He wasn't even fighting seriously."

Lucy balled her fists and tears flowed freely as she watched Gray attack Natsu with a level of animosity she had never seen from the ice mage before.

"He'll kill him!" She screamed.

Loke held her back.

She screamed and screamed with every hit Gray landed on the demon.

Gray created a Sword with his devil slayer magic.

The demon was on the ground, trying to get up from the last blow.

With a loud and angry cry, he brought the sword down on the demon, slicing through it's torso like butter.

With a heavy thud, it was done.

Lucy's screams once again filled the void as she struggled against Loke, trying to get to Natsu.

"Gray! GRAY YOU BASTARD! DON'T JUST RUN AWAY! COWARD!"

He ran. He didn't know where he was going and he didn't care.

He couldn't be there.

* * *

Acnologia had touched down and attacked.

The guild barely survived.

Many were injured and some lives were lost.

Macao, Droy, Laki, and Makarov were among the casualties of Acnologia's carnage.

Those were just from Fairy Tail's ranks.

The town was completely demolished.

They were unable to defeat Acnologia.

Once again, the dragon of the apocalypse had ripped through their lives and left his mark before flying off into oblivion.

The guild members that were left alive spent the next month licking their wounds and rebuilding their home town, again.

They held a funeral ceremony for their fallen nakama.

So many lives were lost, Lucy wasn't sure that Fairy Tail could recover from a blow like this.

Lucy and the others passed each casket, saying their goodbyes.

When she reached Juvia's, her breath caught in her throat.

They hadn't seen Gray since he disappeared after killing Natsu.

No matter what anyone said, Lucy insisted that Gray killed Natsu.

Demon or not, Natsu is Natsu.

She placed a hand on Juvia's snow white casket and bowed her head.

"I'm so sorry for not listening to you... I just couldn't... I loved him, you know?" She whispered to Juvia, wherever she was.

She placed a white peony on her casket before moving on to Natsu's.

When she reached his, she couldn't hold back her tears anymore.

Happy was sitting atop the black casket, crying into his paws.

Lucy scooped him up and held him close.

"It's just you and me now, huh?" She asked between tears.

Happy gripped her tightly and rubbed his teary face in her chest.

She rested her forehead on the casket and wept.

"I wish things had been different. I wish I hadn't been so stubborn. I wish ... I wish you were still here..."

She leaned up and touched the white, scaly scarf around her neck.

She nuzzled her nose into it and whimpered.

Happy looked up with large, sad eyes.

"Will it ever stop hurting?"

Lucy's shoulders shook as her sobs increased.

She shook her head.

"I don't think so, buddy."

Happy's lower lip quivered at her use of the word buddy.

He looked at the scarf around her neck and buried his face back into her chest.

* * *

It has been nearly 3 months since the battle.

Gray wandered the wilderness all of this time.

He couldn't go home.

Not after what he had done.

He killed Juvia.

He killed Natsu.

He murdered his family, his friends.

Gray slowly slipped into madness.

True to her word, Juvia never left Gray.

She stuck by him as she always had.

The first month he wandered the vast expanse of Wilderness in the outskirts of Magnolia had been hell.

Seeing Juvia everywhere killed him.

She spoke to him often, trying to make him go back.

She was like his voice of reason, trying desperately to keep him in the light.

Maybe before Tartaros it would have worked, but the devil slayer magic mixed with his grief was a perfect storm.

He could no longer control his power and was being consumed by it more and more with every passing day.

Juvia couldn't rest.

Gray was struggling and she could do nothing but watch.

He was too far gone.

He no longer looked like himself.

The dark marks covered over 80 percent of his body now.

His eyes had become red.

His behavior was harsh and cruel, showing no mercy to any living thing to cross his path.

He was a different Gray.

Regardless, Juvia made a promise, not only to Gray, but to Silver.

She wasn't able to save him from the darkness, but she could still watch over him, even though it pained her.

Gray sat against a tree and stared at Juvia across from him.

The only time he had moments of clarity were with her.

"Why are you still here, Juvia?" He asked softly.

She appeared beside him.

"Juvia promised to stay with Gray Sama."

He rolled his head to the side to look at her.

She traced his dark marks and frowned.

"I'm sorry for not being strong enough..." He said lowly, seeing her face full of despair.

She kissed his cheek.

"We all have our weaknesses, Gray Sama."

He shook his head and sighed.

"You just had to be mine."

She held his hands.

"Juvia is sorry..."

His red eyes flicked up to her Navy ones.

"Don't be sorry for saving a friend. You did the right thing."

A tear fell to the ground and disappeared.

She looked across his body and pouted.

"Look at what Gray Sama has become..." she whispered.

He chuckled.

"Funny. I've become the very thing I killed Natsu for being. Talk about karma."

Juvia shook her head and cried.

"This isn't fair..."

Gray smiled and hovered a hand over her cheek.

"Life isn't fair."

She looked to the sky and saw clouds rolling in.

"I like your rain..." He said quietly as a rain drop hit his skin.

Before Juvia could respond, she heard a noise in the distance.

People were coming.

She disappeared and the Gray that she knew disappeared with her.

* * *

"Are you sure we are going the right way?" Lucy asked skeptically as she nuzzled into Natsu's scarf.

Erza looked at the map and nodded.

"Yes, this is the correct way."

Happy flew beside them quietly.

He never was quite the same after Natsu's death.

He was more serious, less ... Happy.

Gray hid behind the tree and watched the group pass through the woods.

He didn't recognize them in his current state.

When the demon takes over, he has no control.

He stalked from behind the tree and came out into the open, ready to attack the intruders.

When they saw him they stopped dead in their tracks.

Erza's eyes were wide with shock.

"Gray... What has become of you?"

Lucy's eyes met his and she lost it.

All of the anger she had been suppressing flooded through her body and coursed through her veins like Natsu's hottest flames.

She flung herself at the possessed Gray.

She took him to the ground and began landing hit after hit on his stained flesh.

"YOU KILLED HIM! WE COULD HAVE SAVED HIM!" She screamed.

The demon looks as if he is about to attack and Erza wastes no time.

She pulls Lucy off of him and tells Happy to take her into the air.

Happy does as he is told.

Lucy flails and screams at the exceed.

He refuses to give in to her tantrum.

The demon attacks Erza immediately with a blast of ice.

Erza dodges it and requips a sword into her hand, pointing it at her old friend.

She has him backed into a tree.

He shows no fear, in fact he pushed into her blade, drawing blood from his chest.

Erza then understood.

"You couldn't control it, could you? Their deaths were too much..."

She received no response from the demon.

Erza wants to help him, but the only thing she can think to do is take him to old lady Porlyusica.

The requip mage lets out a solemn sigh before putting on a serious face.

Quickly, she strikes him hard with a blow to the head, knocking him unconscious.

She throws him over her shoulder and calls out to the pair in the sky.

"We're going back."

"WHAT?!" Lucy shouts.

"Gray isn't himself. His devil slayer magic has consumed him."

Happy looked down at the unconscious Gray swinging from Erza's shoulder.

He wasn't mad at Gray.

He felt sorry for him.

Lucy however, was livid.

* * *

When they reached Porlyusica's home, the woman grumbled at the sight of Gray.

"I told that boy not to push it. Stupid human."

Erza crossed her arms and watched the old woman check him over.

"Can it be reversed?"

She hummed to herself and continued to check him.

She forced open his eyes and checked them.

She shook her head.

"I'm afraid that there is nothing that can be done. The only option for him at this point is to be put out of his misery..."

Lucy had been sitting in the corner of the room glaring at the boy on the bed.

Her face softened and she felt a pain in her chest when Porlyusica said this.

"You should do it sooner rather than later. He is only going to get worse." She advised.

Erza nodded.

"So be it... I will be the one to do it."

Erza turned to Lucy.

Her eyes were brimming with tears and her face looked pained.

Gray was like a brother to Erza.

So was Natsu.

"Any last words?" She asked softly.

Lucy shifted in place.

She nodded and Erza left the room.

Lucy sat at his bedside and watched him sleep, eyeing the dark mark that consumed him.

She blinked and a tear fell.

Her heart sank and she felt a wave of guilt wash over her.

"If I had listened to Juvia, she would still be alive..."

She shook her head and gripped Natsu's scarf tightly.

"There could have been another way, right?"

She rested her eyes back on his face.

"I'm sorry for blaming you... I had no right. I'm no better."

Lucy wiped a tear and stood from her seat. Before she exited the room, she turned over her shoulder and whispered.

"Goodbye, Gray."

She gave him the Fairy Tail salute before closing the door.

Erza entered the room and closed the door quietly.

When she looked up, the demon was sat up on the bed, staring at her.

She slowly moved to sit in front of him.

He glared at her, but said nothing.

She took a deep breath and decided that just this last time, even if he couldn't or wouldn't answer, she wanted to talk to him.

"Do you remember me?" She asked with a shaky voice.

He stared right through her and said nothing.

"Natsu?" She pressed on.

Nothing.

She bit her lip and clenched her fist, preparing for an attack.

"Juvia?"

At the mention of her name, his eyes wandered to the corner of the room and focused there.

His features softened and he almost seemed like the Gray she once knew.

Seeing that she was getting somewhere, she decided to stay on the topic of their fallen comrade.

"We miss her, too. I know that her death was hard on you as well as Natsu's..."

She saw his eyes move to the spot beside him on the edge of the bed like someone was sitting next to him.

She watched as his head tilted into something invisible and his eyes gently closed.

He looked so peaceful in this moment.

She smiled.

"I see. Juvia's loyalty truly is unwavering, isn't it..."

Gray's eyes opened and she heard him sigh.

He turned to look at Erza.

"I'm sorry."

A tear fell from her eye and she shook her head.

"Sometimes bad things happen to good people. This is just one of those times..." Her voice trailed off.

Gray looked down to his hand.

"She gives you clarity?" She observed.

He nodded.

"Yeah."

Erza frowned.

"These moments aren't enough to save you, Gray." She stated sadly.

A breeze swept through Gray's hair.

At least that is what it looked like to Erza.

Juvia had delicately ran her hand through Gray's hair.

"I know."

Erza stood from her seat and she didn't bother hiding her grief or fear.

"What would you have me do?"

Gray looked beside him and seemed like he was listening.

He nodded.

His red eyes met with Erza's brown.

"Make it go away. This pain... Let me be with Juvia. She says Natsu is getting impatient."

He smiled weakly up at his friend and team mate.

She closed her eyes and summoned a sword.

Gray bowed his neck.

"I'll wait for you on the other side. Don't rush, though." He said with a lighthearted chuckle.

A small barely there laugh escaped her lips.

Her tears streamed down her face as she raised her sword high in the air.

"Until we meet again, Gray."

The sword came down on his neck and the last thing he saw was Erza's face, her eyes shut tightly, and her face turned away.

Everything faded to black.

* * *

Gray awoke in a golden field.

When he sat up He saw Juvia and Natsu running to Greet him.

"Gray Sama!"

"Hey ya pervy Popsicle. It sure took ya long enough."

Gray smiled and looked down at himself.

His marks were gone.

"Gray Sama... There are some people that have been waiting for you." Juvia grabbed his hand and started pulling him along.

Natsu ran ahead.

Just ahead, Gray saw his parents, Ur, Macao, Makarov, Droy, Laki, Zeref, Mavis and even some random members of their fellow guilds.

Gray turned to look at Juvia and smiled.

He was free.

* * *

 ***AUTHOR'S NOTE*** I had to give this a happy ending.

Well, as happy as a death can be anyhow...

I was going to leave it at him dying, but I decided the afterlife was necessary.

I can't just leave shit like that.

I cried the entire time I was typing this.

So, just know that I am suffering with you.


End file.
